WASHINGTON,
D.C. –
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) today took action against two
American Express banking subsidiaries for discriminating against consumers in
Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and other U.S. territories by providing
them with credit and charge card terms that were inferior to those available in
the 50 states. American Express also discriminated against certain consumers
with Spanish-language preferences. Over the course of at least ten years, more
than 200,000 consumers were harmed by American Express’ discriminatory practices,
which included charging higher interest rates, imposing stricter credit
cutoffs, and providing less debt forgiveness. American Express has paid
approximately $95 million in consumer redress during the course of the Bureau’s
review and American Express’ review, and today’s order requires it to pay at
least another $1 million to fully compensate harmed consumers.

“Consumer
financial protections are not confined within the 50 states,” said CFPB
Director Richard Cordray. “American Express discriminated against consumers in
Puerto Rico and the U.S. territories by providing them with less-favorable
financial products and services. They have ceased this practice and are making
consumers whole. In particular, because they self-reported the problem and
fully cooperated with our investigation, no civil penalties are being assessed
in this matter.”

The
American Express Company is a multi-bank holding corporation based in New York
and a global provider of credit and charge cards, savings accounts,
certificates of deposit, and travel services. American
Express Centurion Bank and American Express Bank, FSB are both bank
subsidiaries of American Express Company that administer American Express
Company’s credit and charge card lines of business. These companies offered 45
credit cards and charge cards, which are similar to credit cards but require
the full balance to be paid monthly, in its U.S. states market, including cards
such as the American Express Green, Gold, and Platinum. In addition to managing
cards offered in the 50 U.S. states, these two companies also manage cards
offered in Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and other U.S. territories,
which include Guam, American Samoa, and Northern Mariana Islands.

Beginning
in 2013, American Express self-reported to the Bureau differences between its
Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands cards (collectively, Puerto Rico cards) and
its cards offered in the 50 U.S. states (U.S. cards), as well as differences
with respect to certain consumers with a Spanish-language preference. Through
the course of a supervisory review, the Bureau concluded that, from at least
2005 to 2015, American Express’ Puerto Rico cards had different—and often
worse—pricing, rebates, and promotional offers, underwriting, customer and
account management services, and collections practices than its U.S. cards.
The Bureau’s
review did not find that American Express intentionally discriminated against
its customers but rather found that these differences were the result of
American Express’ card management structure, which had different business units
overseeing its Puerto Rico cards and U.S. cards. These differences spanned the
product lifecycle and included:

Charging
higher fees and interest rates and offering less advantageous promotional
offers: OneAmerican Express
bank charged Puerto Rico cardholders higher average interest rates and annual
fees than similarly situated U.S. cardholders. American Express’ promotional
offers (such as 0% introductory rates or waiving first year fees) for its
Puerto Rico cards were also inferior. Similarly, for some residents of Puerto
Rico and the U.S. territories who did get U.S. cards, including some small
business cards, American Express gave less valuable promotional offers than
those given to 50 U.S. states residents. These discriminatory pricing practices
harmed over 200,000 cardholders.

Imposing more
stringent credit score cutoffs and lower credit limits: American Express applied stricter credit score
requirements to its Puerto Rico cards than its comparable U.S. cards but did
not apply more stringent credit score cutoffs to other U.S. geographies. As a
result, American Express denied credit to certain Puerto Rico card applicants
who would have been approved for comparable U.S. cards had they lived in the 50
U.S. states. American Express also imposed lower initial credit limits on
certain Puerto Rico cards and thus provided less access to credit than to
similarly situated U.S. cardholders. Additionally, one American Express bank
outright denied Puerto Rican residents who applied for certain consumer and
small business card products that were offered to U.S. residents. These
discriminatory practices harmed over 35,000 consumers and small businesses.

Requiring more
money to settle debt: In using
third-party debt collectors, one American Express bank settled card debt held
by Puerto Rico cardholders on less favorable terms than debt held by its U.S.
cardholders. On average, Puerto Rico cardholders had to pay 73 percent of the
owed amount, compared with only 55 percent paid by U.S. cardholders. It also
excluded certain Puerto Rico cardholders from letter campaigns with even more
advantageous debt settlement offers through which U.S. cardholders were able to
settle, on average, for 42 percent of the owed amount. American Express also
did not provide certain collection offers and services that it gave to U.S.
cardholders, including benefits for paying all or a part of their past due
balance, to Puerto Rico cardholders and cardholders who requested Spanish
language communication. These differential collection practices harmed over
53,000 cardholders in Puerto Rico and the U.S. territories, or who indicated a
Spanish-language preference.

Enforcement
Action

The
Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act authorizes the CFPB
to take action against creditors engaging in discrimination in violation of the
Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA). ECOA prohibits creditors from
discriminating against applicants and prospective applicants in credit
transactions on the basis of characteristics such as race and national origin.
Under the terms of the CFPB order released today, American Express is required
to:

Fully
remediate harmed consumers: During
the Bureau’s review, American Express provided monetary and non-monetary relief
to 221,932 harmed consumers, resulting in approximately $95 million of
remediation. American Express must review and verify the adequacy of any
redress done prior to the CFPB order. The Bureau is ordering American Express to
pay at least an additional $1 million to redress harmed consumers who have not
yet been fully compensated, as required by the consent order.

Not
discriminate against residents of Puerto Rico, the U.S. territories, and
consumers with a Spanish-language preference: American Express must develop and implement a
comprehensive compliance plan to ensure that it provides credit and charge
cards in a non-discriminatory manner to consumers in Puerto Rico, the U.S.
territories, and customers in collection who prefer Spanish-language
communications. American Express has already modified its management structure
such that it manages its Puerto Rico cards under the same division as its U.S.
cards. The compliance plan must include any necessary additional improvements to
its compliance management system; compliance audit program; credit and charge
card business structure, policies, and procedures; employee training
procedures; and complaints procedures.

The
Bureau did not assess penalties based on a number of factors, including that
American Express self-reported the violations to the Bureau, self-initiated
remediation for the harm done to affected consumers, and fully cooperated with
the Bureau’s review and investigation.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is a 21st century agency that helps consumer finance markets work by making rules more effective, by consistently and fairly enforcing those rules, and by empowering consumers to take more control over their economic lives. For more information, visit consumerfinance.gov.